


70 Minutes and the Next Morning

by dawnmarie



Series: Henry Sturges--ALVH Stories [3]
Category: Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (2012), Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter - Seth Grahame-Smith
Genre: Character Turned Into Vampire, Gen, Girls with Guns, Swords, Vampires
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-11
Updated: 2013-07-11
Packaged: 2017-12-18 10:08:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,931
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/878583
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dawnmarie/pseuds/dawnmarie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Henry and Abraham take their newest protege out on the hunt for the very first time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	70 Minutes and the Next Morning

**Author's Note:**

> A little story set in the Autumn of 2012, for those of you keeping track of my ALVH story collection.

**8:15 pm**

"Cathi, what are those?"  
  
"Bullets." Henry had been acting cagey all day and Cathi couldn’t resist joking with him.  
  
"I realise that."

"Sorry, Henry. You asked a stupid question and got a stupid answer. _These_ bullets are special. I made them myself, using the same recipe you use for our bladed weapons. These babies are 100% pure silver. Roll one between your fingers. 200 1mm size ball bearings also made of silver are inside each bullet. They'll do maximum damage to any target, human _or_ vampire."

Henry did as he was told. _She was right,_ he thought as he rolled a couple of the proffered bullets between his gloved fingers. These would work and work perfectly. "Just one thing, Cathi. I fear that you are just as bloodthirsty as I. Don't let it get the best of you. Are we understood?"

*****

**8:22 pm**

"I think we should take Cathi out on the night's hunt."  
  
"Are you sure?"  
  
"Quite positive. She is ready. Except for you, I have not seen someone train so fervently. And with James retired..." Henry trailed off, deciding to let Abraham digest the little surprise he had sprung upon him.  
  
Abraham steepled his fingers under his chin and knitted his brow. Henry called it his 'I am doing my very best to ignore what you just said even though I fully intend to give you an answer that you don't like anyways face'. "I agree she is capable but I can't help but worry. She is a woman-"

"Abraham! Do women not bear children? Does that not take strength? Do they not feel and have hearts? They're just as strong as us, if not more so."

Abraham sighed. "You have already decided then, Henry?"  
  
"Of course."

"And nothing that I would have said could have possibly changed your mind?"  
  
"No."

Abraham chuckled. "Alright. Let's go."

*****

**8:35 pm**

Henry took Cathi and guided her by the shoulders as he shook his head towards the building in front of them. "Cathi. Come. It's time. In this city, in that laboratory before you there are two men who deserve it sooner."

"They own, work, and live in that laboratory. Don’t worry. They’ll be alone, Abraham and I saw to that earlier. Remember what we taught you. And never forget that my and Abraham's kind are devious and operate without consideration. Only you or they will walk out of that room. Make your decision now."

*****

**8:40 pm**

"Mr. Brown. Mr. Harrison. I have a surprise for the two of you."

"How in hell did you get in here?"  
  
Whichever of the two had asked her the question was immaterial. She had a job to do and she did it. All it took was a quick swing of Abraham’s axe and she was done. There was so much blood. Years later, whenever she would reminisce with Henry and Abraham about this night, the blood was the one thing that she remembered more than anything.

*****

**8:45 pm**

"Abraham!"  
  
"What is it, Henry?"  
  
"A trap! Deaders."

Abraham was just about to respond when he and Henry heard Cathi’s voice.

"Eh? What? What do you mean Deaders, Henry?" By now Cathi had caught back up to the men and was hoping that there was more action to come. She was freakish enough to have enjoyed the dispatching of Mr. Harrison and Mr. Brown and she was ready for more.

"Deaders, Cathi." Henry replied. "They are usually baby vampires who have been punished by their masters with the withholding of sustenance. Without blood though this is what even I or Abraham would become eventually." He patted her on the shoulder. "I'm sorry I neglected to tell you of them sooner but seeing one is so rare that it is like seeing an unicorn."

"I see." And with that Cathi took off down the hall before either Henry or Abraham could stop her.

*****

**9:00 pm**

Cathi continued walking down the hallway as she pulled her chrome plated Glocks out of their holsters. Switching on the laser beam pointers on each of them, she held both pistols out and slowly brought them up to the front as she kept the red beams as well as her eyes trained on the Deaders she was lurching and scurrying their way towards the opposite end of the hall.

Cocking her pistols, Cathi waited. It was so quiet that the place sounded abandoned. Thank god she still had her wits about her; as well as her impeccable eyesight and intuition. Those latter traits were two of the main reasons that Henry and Abraham had brought her into their family into the first place.

Then there was her sense of smell. It had always been peculiarly strong. Henry had joked more than once that she just maybe had a bit of vampire in her. Now she was wishing that she didn’t have that gift. She could actually smell the sweat and stench of the Deaders. It was worse than rotten eggs on a hot summer day and she could already taste the long, hot shower that she wanted and knew that she would need to take when they got back to base.

"Come out, now!" she shouted, her voice echoing across the walls. "I know you things are out there waiting. Let’s end this now. One way or another."

That did it. Cathi heard a deafening roar as the Deaders made their way into the main room of the laboratory. Starting to shoot, Cathi had mowed down more than a few when her guns jammed. "Damn it. Abe, Henry. Help would be a good thing right about now. Both of these damn guns are jammed."

Quickly, both Henry and Abraham jumped down to her side from where they had been sitting in the laboratory’s skybox.

"You did well Cathi." Henry said. "Let’s kill the rest of them quick. Together."

*****

**9:20 pm**

There were so many of them. Henry was cognisant of the fact that letting these things get up from their underground lair would spell trouble for everyone above ground, both humans _and_ vampires. At the same time, how the hell were the three of them going to take care of this entire group? He stopped counting once he had hit the double digits. For the first time in his life he was actually frightened. Maybe this was the end of the line. He just wished if it were really the end, he wanted to be alone. No need to have Abraham, let alone Cathi with him.

Still, they went into this together and they were going to go out together. One way or another.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw a display of broadswords hanging on the wall. Not usually his style but it would do. Grabbing one in a blink, he threw it up in the air and tumbled, catching it as he stood back upright. To his chagrin, he had miscalculated his landing. He was right in the middle of the horde now.

Making the briefest of eye contact with the two Deaders directly to his right he charged, screaming Cathi and Abraham’s names as he did so.

As quick as he could, he dispatched the Deaders as they approached. Although they were lean and almost catlike in their visage, their speed was no much for Henry’s. Unfortunately for them and fortunately for him, he had years of fighting and years of the vampire virus surging through his veins. Maybe he could come out of this mess alive, after all. Maybe Abraham was right; maybe he had been doubting himself too much lately.

The Deaders continued to dance around him, as if playing a game. By now Cathi and Abraham had caught up to him and were busy cold cocking as many of them as they could.

The fight may have only lasted a mere minute or two but to Cathi it seemed like hours. For every punch and kick she and Abraham landed, sending yet another Deader to the ground, it seemed as if two more, three more leapt up in their places.

Finally, the three of them seemed to be making progress. The last of the Deaders approached, then stopped dead in its tracks. "What is it doing, Abraham? Damn, it looks like she is actually staring at Henry."

"I don’t know Cathi."

Henry locked his eyes with that of the Deader. There was something so familiar about the green eyes and yet so ominous. He was positive that he had seen those eyes before. The only question was where.

"Henry!" Henry could hear Abraham calling his name as he drunkenly staggered back and away from the Deader and out of his shock. _Compose yourself Sturges._ "Gabrielle."

"What? Who is Gabrielle?" Cathi wrinkled her nose and looked back and forth between her two friends with a confused look on her face.

Abraham placed a hand on Cathi’s shoulder. "She was an old friend of Henry’s. I met her the same morning that Henry properly introduced himself to me." Considering the time and place, Abraham considered that a sufficient enough answer. Now was not the time to explain that Henry and Gabrielle had been quite the item for decades.

"I’m so so sorry baby." Henry lunged forward and swung, his broadsword cutting what had once been Gabrielle, the second love of his life clean in half. As she fell to the ground, Cathi could swear she saw a tear trail out of Gabrielle’s right eye.

 

***** 

**9:25 pm**

"Henry, Cathi. Are you two ready to go? Not much time before the cleaners show up."  
  
As they walked out the main building, Cathi saw a flicker of movement. A cold dead hand lurched, grabbed one of Cathi’s guns, and fired as it jumped up. In slow motion, Cathi leapt in front of Henry and braced herself for the impact just as she felt two bullets pierce her chest.

*****

**The Next Morning**

Through what she would have otherwise thought was nothing but a drug induced fog, Cathi opened her eyes. Still a little groggy, she could clearly see Henry peering down at her, smiling.  
  
"I take it you slept well?"  
  
"Yes, very much so." _Okay, I may actually feel like crap but at least my voice still works she thought to herself._ "We made it out of there alive. All three of us, right?"  
  
"In a manner of speaking, yes. I had to turn you."

"Thank you. Actually, thanks a bunch. I am thrilled, to be honest. Now we can fight together through the centuries."

Henry couldn't help but grin broadly. That kind of reaction was a first. Abraham had been downright petulant when he had realised Henry had turned him. Cathi in contrast was almost downright giddy about it. "Think nothing of it my friend. After all some people are too interesting to die."

"Henry."  
  
"Yes?"

"The Deaders. How come you and Abraham were able to kill them? You told me that vampires couldn't kill their own kind."

"I don't know why it is possible. It just is. I wish that I had a better explanation but I don't."

Cathi shook her head. "About Gabrielle, Henry. When we were back there at the lab, Abraham told me---I mean, um. What I am trying to say is that I am sorry."

"Thank you. Now get some more rest. We trained you to hunt vampires. Now we have to train you how to _be_ a vampire." And with that Henry smiled again and turned, closing the bedroom door behind him.


End file.
